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Warning over cheap travel insurance

HOLIDAYMAKERS are being warned not to pick the cheapest travel insurance policies because many do not provide an adequate level of cover and may leave travellers stranded abroad.

Some policies cost less than £6 for a week's cover in Europe, according to a report from Defaqto, a financial research company. But they are "too cheap" to be able to offer sufficient cover and may have misleading small print, it said. It urges consumers buying cheap policies to consider whether their insurer could pay any claim made.

Many cheaper policies do not cover the loss of cash, baggage or passports, for example, while others have large excesses - the amount of a claim you must pay yourself - or a low payback limit for each individual item lost.

Gosure.com, for example, has a basic single-trip policy for seven days for £6.67, but there is no cash, baggage or passport loss cover. Staysure.co.uk charges